Who’s the Censor: Twitter or Trump?

Are social media companies a threat to free speech? President Trump seems to think so. Recently, Trump signed an executive order ostensibly aimed at preventing “censorship” by digital platforms like Twitter and Facebook. In this episode of New Ideal Live, Ben Bayer sits down with Gregory Salmieri to critique the president’s executive order and to clear up dangerous confusions about the nature of free speech and censorship.

Topics covered include:

• The nature of free speech and of censorship;
• Why only government, not private business, can censor;
• The dishonesty of President Trump’s recent executive order;
• How both political parties cry “censorship” to rationalize restricting free speech;
• And more.

Additional resources from New Ideal on this topic include: “Unjust Attacks on Facebook,” “Social Media Are Victims, Not Villains, in Russia Scandal,” “Ominous Threats to the Marketplace of Ideas,” and “Facebook: Censor or Victim?”

This podcast was recorded on June 5, 2020. Watch or listen to the discussion below.

To see future episodes of New Ideal Live, join the Zoom broadcast on Mondays or Wednesdays at 11 a.m. Pacific and take part in the Q&A. Go to https://zoom.us/join and use meeting ID: 812-506-718. Or catch the livestream or recording on YouTube and Facebook.

Podcast audio: